


And Action!

by Kalta79



Series: Advent Children Filming Series [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, The characters are real, The movie is fake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 02:36:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11454210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalta79/pseuds/Kalta79
Summary: The continuation of my Advent Children filming series. Takes place shortly after Casting Call.





	1. Chapter 1

“I can’t believe what they expect me to do in this stupid movie!” Reno complained to Yuffie as they ate dinner.

Yuffie sighed. Ever since they got the script, he had been pouting over it. She had been surprised that they used their real names as the characters’ names, but she figured it would help them feel more comfortable in the role. And she wasn’t happy with her role either, but it seemed minor enough to not interfere with her medical practice. “Look at the bright side, you might attract more people to the museum, and more foot traffic would help with getting grants.” She managed to smile at her husband.

“Yeah, that’s true. We could use more money to install a better security system and retrofit the building for more fire safety. Those paintings can never be replaced if anything happens to them.”

“Well, filming starts tomorrow, so we better get to bed and rest up.” Yuffie said after she finished clearing off the dining room table. She took Reno’s hand and smiled suggestively at him.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Reno let her lead him to their bedroom, and then he became more engaged once he felt her hands on his now bare skin.

Yuffie was relieved that Reno still found her desirable enough that she didn‘t have to do everything herself, but she still closed her eyes against the feeling that they weren’t making love anymore, they were just having sex. Hopefully tomorrow would start to change things.

 

***

They weren’t the only ones taking issue with their scripted roles. In the biggest master suite of her family mansion, Elena was trying to soothe her husband as well as they lay in bed.

“I’m a chef dammit, not a comedic action star!” Rude exclaimed. “I was only there to support you!” Then he noticed the expression on his wife’s face and realized he had unintentionally hurt her feelings. “I’m sorry Elena, I didn’t mean to blame you.” Rude apologized as he caressed her.

“I forgive you.” Elena smiled at him, covering his hand with hers. “Yuffie told me Reno had the same reaction.”

“Yuffie and Reno?” Rude was momentarily confused. “Oh, that couple from the audition? When have you been talking to her?”

“She’s a good doctor, and it’s always wise to be friendly to anyone medical when you’re starring in an action movie.” Elena said, not wanting to tell Rude the real reason was that she had wanted Yuffie to act as her secret ob-gyn. Elena wanted to have it all…she had Rude, soon she’d have the mayor‘s office, and the next step was to have Rude’s children. And since she and Yuffie would both be on set, there would be nothing suspicious in her spending time with a co-star for the reporters to latch on to. Yuffie had promised she would do a general exam on Elena tomorrow, and when the bloodwork came back, she would prescribe the safest fertility drug for her, since Elena wanted to have as many children at once as she could, so she wouldn’t have go to through the hassle of multiple pregnancies to have a large family.

“I won’t let anything happen to you!” Rude promised her.

“Well, I might let things happen to you…” Elena said, kissing him. She didn’t enjoy pulling away from him when he started to respond to her, but she wanted to keep him on edge so once she was at her most fertile, he would be worked up enough to go all night. Not that he ever needed a reason for that…Elena smiled with the memory of how he proved his stamina to her. She just didn’t want him to be suspicious about her suddenly wanting so much sex from him, since they were always careful to avoid pregnancy. Rude wanted to wait a few more years before starting a family, but she didn’t. “We need to actually sleep tonight.” she said by way of apology for her pulling away.

“Does that mean you won’t try and take advantage of me anymore?” Rude asked, putting his arms around her.

“Just for tonight, I won’t.” Elena said, snuggling against him, falling into a contented sleep in her husband’s embrace.

 

***

“Tomorrow we start filming.” Aerith sleepily reminded Rufus, when she woke up in the middle of the night to him getting into their bed.

“Yeah, I know.” Rufus said. “Go back to sleep.” he said after he pulled him to her so he could sleep with her breasts in his hands, and he wondered if that nanny to the two kids would be there tomorrow…she was a little older than him, but she was still attractive and had seemed shy when he had tried to talk to her, which was a nice change from Aerith.

 

***

 

“I’m sorry you only got hired as an extra.” Cid told Shera as they got back home from their weekly date night. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Shalua said there was an opening on set for a gofer, so I’ll still be working. And it didn’t sound much different than being a stewardess. I‘m glad you still get to be a pilot.” Shera smiled at her husband.

“You’re really not upset?” Cid asked.

“Not when I still get to be paid to be around my husband all day. Just stay away from that Aerith.” Shera frowned at the memory of that woman advertising herself to every man in the room during the auditions.

“Aerith? Oh her…don’t worry, babe. She’s got nothing on you.” Cid reassured his wife.

 

***

Sephiroth was glad his cousins got major parts in the movie, that means they wouldn’t be bothering him with their constant bickering for a long time. He had a minor part, but he was the final bad guy, so he had plenty of opportunity to hang around on set to learn about directing.

 

***

Reeve was disappointed that his ‘role’ in the movie consisted of controlling the animatronic characters, talking cats and dogs. He hoped his Driver For Hire t-shirts with his phone number that he had ordered would arrive soon.

 

***

Scarlet checked on the children before going to bed herself She was glad Denzel and Marlene had gotten important roles, but she was nervous about the kind of people they’d be exposed to on set. That Aerith woman should be ashamed of herself. She seemed to be involved with that man…what was his name? Rufus? He had tried to talk to Scarlet, but she wasn’t interested in associating with someone who was with Aerith. She was probably a walking STD factory.

 

***

Barret ordered takeout for his dinner, hoping there would be good food on set tomorrow. But he wasn’t looking forward to seeing Elena and Rude again. She had definitely lost his vote, and if Rude was involved in preparing the food for the cast and crew, Barret would keep ordering takeout and make Avalanche Films pay for it.

 

***

 

Tifa banged on Cloud’s door. “I know you’re in there! Open the damned door!” she yelled.

“Tifa! Stop that!” Tseng exclaimed.

She stopped by the sheer surprise of him suddenly appearing out of nowhere. He had always had that habit, and sometimes it was comforting, sometimes it was really annoying. Right now she felt somewhat embarrassed. “What are you doing here?” she demanded to know.

“Keeping you from getting a bad reputation.” Tseng replied, knowing Cloud was in bed with one of those starlets he couldn’t stay away from. “Filming starts tomorrow, you need to go home and go to bed.” He put his arms around her to lead her to his car.

“I want to be in bed with him!” she snapped, then noticed the expression that briefly appeared on Tseng’s face. “He’s in bed with someone else, isn’t he? That’s it, I’m done with him! If he could do that to me tonight, after we’re just about to get everything we worked so hard for…” Tifa’s anger was replaced by tears.

“Come on, let’s get you home.” Tseng repeated, taking her to his car.

“Who was that?” the starlet asked Cloud, who was lighting up a cigarette.

“Oh, that was just my sister. She won’t quit thinking I need her to look after her.” Cloud lied, knowing he’d have to do some serious apologizing with a touch of groveling for Tifa to forgive him again.

 

***

 

Vincent was glad the shooting of the film would start tomorrow, and he didn’t have to deal with bratty kids for months and he was getting paid for it as well. That Aerith woman would be there, and she was the first woman who had willingly talked to him in a long time, and it had surprised him so much he couldn’t look at her for fear of embarrassing himself. Maybe he’d do better next time.

 

***

 

“These are your trailers you will be using during the filming of Advent Children. We have answered some of your requests for dual trailers for couples. Reno and Yuffie Sinclair and Cid and Shera Highwind, you share your trailers, same goes for Elena Mackintosh and her husband Rude. Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart, your request was approved for separate trailers that are parked right next to each other.” Shalua explained to everyone. “The rest of you just have single trailers. Feel free to acclimatize yourself to them. In one hour, Rufus, Kadaj, Reno, and Rude will be needed to start shooting the first scene of the day. It’s page 53 of the script. If you have any requests or need any help, contact Mrs. Highwind here, and she’ll take care of you. That‘s all.” With that, Shalua walked off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of filming starts

“I’m going to check to see how my apprentices are doing with the catering.” Rude said, kissing Elena before walking towards the mobile kitchen.

Catching Elena’s eye, Yuffie turned to Reno. “I’ll go check out our trailer, why don’t you go talk to Rude?”

“Uh, sure.” Reno wasn’t sure why she wanted him to talk to Rude, but he felt it might be a good idea since they were going to be partnered in every scene they were doing.

Once the husbands were out of sight, Yuffie and Elena went to Yuffie and Reno’s trailer. Once they closed all the blinds and curtains, Yuffie opened her oversized purse and took out an unopened syringe and two blood collection tubes. She placed them on the counter next to the sink, then took out a small bag of cotton balls, some bandaids, and rubbing alcohol, putting them on the counter as well.

“It doesn’t matter which arm, whichever one you feel most comfortable with, just roll up the sleeve on that arm.” Yuffie told Elena as she prepared to draw blood.

“Is all that stuff necessary?” Elena swallowed nervously as she exposed the chosen arm for Yuffie.

“You never know if anyone will get injured on set. Reno would expect me to carry lots of first aid supplies. Make a fist please.” Yuffie explained as she tied the tourniquet around Elena’s arm before inserting the needle into her vein, then put the first tube in the syringe, quickly removing it when it was full enough and putting the second one in. “There ya go.” Yuffie bandaged her up, and then put the tubes in a special container and put it in the fridge.

“Is my blood safe there?” Elena asked.

“Don’t worry, Reno won’t open the fridge, and even if he did, I disguised it as a container of one of the foods he’s allergic to. When we’re done here for the day, I’ll take it to the lab for testing.”

Elena was reassured. “How long will it take for results?”

“A day or two. Now you can get undressed so I can give you a physical. I’d prefer to just get records from your doctor, but you want secrecy, so we’ll just have to wing it. Have you ever been pregnant before?” Yuffie started examining Elena while getting her medical history.

Elena had just gotten dressed again when Reno entered the trailer with Rude in tow.

“Hi honey.” The four of them each said to their respective spouse, then Elena took Rude by the hand and started leading him out the door. “Why don’t you show me our trailer now?” she asked him as they left.

“Is everything okay?” Reno asked Yuffie, noticing she seemed a little sad.

“I’m fine.” Yuffie forced a smile. “When do you start filming?” she asked to distract him.

“In a few minutes. You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Of course. Are Denzel and Marlene here?”

“Yeah, I saw them heading towards the food when Rude and I came back here.”

“I think I’ll go say Hi to them before I get to watch my husband the movie star at work.” Yuffie kissed him before hurrying out the door. She had a sudden intense need to be around the children again.

 

***

Tifa was glad to not be filming today. She needed some alone time to figure out what to do. When Tseng took her home last night, she had no idea what happened. One minute he was offering her a shoulder to cry on, the next she was waking up in the morning, their naked bodies still entwined. She was grateful he hadn’t needed any urging to leave, once he woke up as well, he hurriedly got dressed and left without a word. After she had a smoothie for a quick breakfast in her trailer, she remembered having sex with him, and how gentle he had been. Cloud had been the only man she ever had sex with until last night, and their sex had been many things, but gentle had never been one of them. Her night with Tseng had to be a fluke though, she could never see herself saying goodbye to Cloud. Her childhood dreams of fame and fortune were about to be fulfilled, so her dream of a happily ever after life with Cloud must come true as well. But for now, she just had to hide in her star trailer.

 

***

“Do you need a driver?” Reeve asked Barret as they both ended up at the buffet table.

“No, I need that gofer Shera. Where is she?” Barret looked around.

“I’m here, Mr. Wallace. What may I help you with?” Shera asked, suddenly appearing.

“First, don’t sneak up on people like that.” Barret nearly jumped when she had spoken right behind him. “Secondly, who prepared this food?”

“Mr. Rude’s trainees are in charge of catering for the cast and crew.” Shera replied.

“Then order me a medium pizza to be delivered to my trailer. I want pepperoni, extra anchovies, and extra cheese.”

“Okay, I’ll do that right now.” Shera told him, taking her company cellphone out to call the closest pizzeria.

 

***

 

Zack was having trouble focusing, and it was really bothering him because it was a simple scene, just Kadaj and Rufus talking as Reno and Rude lay injured on the floor. But everyone came to watch the first scene get filmed, and whenever Zack looked away from the camera, he noticed Aerith looking at him with a provocative and inviting smile on her face. Everyone but Kadaj was having issues with their parts, seeming to take it as a personal insult. Not only that, Rufus complained it was too hot under his hooded robes. Finally hours later, the scene was done successfully, and Zack was glad to take a break. If this was any indication of how things were going to be, this might set a record as the longest filming movie in cinematic history. Not quite the way he hoped to achieve that goal.

“Good job everyone, we’ll be shooting three scenes tomorrow to get us back on our shooting schedule.” Zack forced a smile at his inexperienced cast, and headed back to his trailer.

“So how does it feel to be a movie star?” Aerith asked Rufus as they walked back to his trailer.

“Hot.” Rufus complained. “I need a shower.” he said as he opened the door to his trailer.

“That sounds like a good idea. Is there room for two?” Aerith asked.

“Maybe some other time, Aerith. You should go try that Vincent guy again. I saw him watching you while you were watching the director.” Rufus said before closing the door on her.

Aerith was about to bitch out Rufus until the door closed all the way, and she saw Cloud standing there, having been hidden by the open door.

“Well, if you’re not too busy, my shower is available. And you can see how the main star lives.” Cloud smirked, holding out his hand to her.

“I think my schedule is free.” Aerith smiled as she put her hand in his.

Cloud was relieved slightly that she had accepted his offer. Tifa had refused to talk to anyone today, not even her manager. He and Tifa had their issues, he was willing to admit that, but he was worried that he might have really hurt her when he didn’t answer the door last night. So maybe if he was with another woman again, Tifa would come out of hiding. And Aerith was an ideal choice, it was obvious that she was always ready for action. He was willing to do anything to make sure Tifa was okay, and Aerith was attractive, so why not?

 

***

Kadaj was ecstatic about nailing his first real acting scene, but his cousins were getting pissed off at listening to him talk about how great he was. Sephiroth, seated behind Kadaj, pretended to play a game of Russian roulette with his hand as the revolver, and Loz and Yazoo couldn’t help themselves and burst out laughing when Sephiroth faked blowing his brains out.

“What’s so funny?” Kadaj demanded, not happy to be interrupted in his moment of triumph.

“It’s time for dinner, that’s what funny.” Loz managed to say. “Who wants weinerschnitzel?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Same old, same old...more of life on set.

Aerith left Cloud’s trailer feeling disgusted with the man. He was a piece of work…at least Rufus would occasionally ask questions about her day or what she was up to. But Cloud…it had been two days since they had such wonderfully crazy sex all over his trailer, starting in the shower. And when he invited her back today, in the middle of them having sex again, he told her that she was welcome anytime Tifa wasn’t on set, cause he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Then he insisted she stay afterwards until he was done smoking his cigarette, and he just spent the whole time talking about his and Tifa’s relationship, and how grateful he was that she had forgiven him. She wanted to slam Cloud’s trailer door closed, but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself. She looked around and saw Vincent nearby, sitting outside his trailer eating lunch.

“Care for some company?” Aerith asked Vincent as she walked over to him.

Vincent looked up, startled at her sudden appearance and surprised that she asked to spend time with him. “Aren’t you with that Rufus fellow?”

“Oh, he’s just my roommate. We just pretend to be a couple when it’s convenient.” Aerith explained as she sat down on the ground next to him where he couldn’t avoid looking at her cleavage if he tried to just stare down at the ground again, smiling as she saw him blush at his first inadvertent glance. Her smiled faded as he swallowed his bite of lunch wrong and started choking. She quickly stood up and went to pound on his back, but that just resulted in her breasts being shoved against his arm, and that made him worse. She ran into his trailer and poured him a glass of water. When she got back out, he had calmed down.

“I’m fine now.” Vincent took small sips of the water, mad at himself for blowing his second chance to make a good impression on the attractive young woman next to him.

“You’re cute when you’re red.” Aerith remarked. “As long as you’re not choking that is. You sure you’re okay, or do you need me to go get Yuffie?”

Vincent shook his head. “I’m fine now.” he repeated, then realized she had just called him cute. “If you’re not with Rufus, who are you with?”

 

***

Rufus walked out of his trailer, pleasantly surprised to see Vincent and Aerith talking to each other. It was pleasant because it meant he had some free time, surprising because even though he had told her the truth that Vincent had been eyeing her, a boring high school teacher did not seem like her type at all. Wanting to take advantage of his chance, he walked over to the kids’ trailer, hoping to find Scarlet there. She was there, so was Yuffie who was entertaining the children.

“Hello, Scarlet.” Rufus said, with nods to Yuffie and the kids when they looked at him.

“Hello, Mr. Shinra.” Scarlet replied coldly. “What can I help you with?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to go out to dinner tonight.” Rufus said.

“Uh, I think that’s my cue to leave.” Yuffie announced.

“Please don’t leave me alo…” Scarlet started to plead, then stopped so the children wouldn’t see her begging like she was afraid to be alone with Rufus. She wasn’t afraid, she just didn’t like him.

“It’s okay, I have something else I have to do now anyway.” Yuffie said before leaving.

“Why don’t you like me?” Rufus asked Scarlet once Yuffie was out of earshot.

“Please go inside and finish your homework, children.” Scarlet told them, and once Marlene and Denzel were back in their trailer with the door closed, she turned to Rufus. “Because you’re involved with that Aerith woman.” Scarlet didn’t bother keeping the disgust she felt for Aerith’s behavior out of her voice.

“Not like you think, she’s just my roommate, we only pretend to be a couple to keep each other out of trouble.” Rufus explained smoothly, having lied about his relationship with Aerith countless times before.

“Oh. Well that‘s still not proper.” she said somewhat weakly, embarrassed to have falsely accused him.

“But it’s proper for a man to take an attractive woman out to dinner, isn’t it?”

Scarlet stared hard at Rufus. He had called her attractive…it had been years since any man had complimented her on anything other than taking care of his children. “I don’t have any fancy clothes, and I can‘t leave the children.” she offered as a last excuse.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take you someplace suitable for what you’re wearing. I’ll be back in half an hour, and I’ll bring Yuffie back to take care of the kids.”

***

Yuffie went into her trailer, and grabbed her purse before heading over to see Elena. She had barely finished her first knock on the trailer door before Elena opened it.

“I was hoping it was you.” Elena said as she gestured for Yuffie to come inside. “What did my tests say?”

Yuffie reached into her purse and pulled out a bottle, handing it to Elena. “Follow the dosage instructions exactly. It’ll take a couple days for these to start doing their job, and you’ve been keeping careful track of your cycles, so you should be popping out babies in no time.”

“Thank you so much! If there’s ever anything I can do to return the favor, let me know” Elena told her before Yuffie left.

“There you are!” Reno exclaimed, walking up to her. “I don’t know why I should be surprised to find you visiting Elena, if you’re not with those children, you’re with her.”

Yuffie smiled at her husband. It seemed like a positive change that he was bothered that they weren’t spending much time together. He was actually paying attention to what was going on. “Well if you spend so much time with Rude filming, I thought I should keep Elena company. How did filming today go?”

“I got to be in a helicopter crash. Cid has only flown airplanes, but he still gave me some hints as how to make it look believable.” Reno told her. He would be glad when this movie was done, then maybe he could figure out why Yuffie seemed to be avoiding him when they were on set. He saw Rufus approaching them, and he quickly put his arms around his wife. He didn’t like Rufus near Yuffie anymore than she seemed to like Aerith around him.

“Hey, would you guys mind watching those kids for a while?” Rufus asked them. “Scarlet won’t let me take her out to dinner unless the kids are being supervised.” 

“We can do that.” Yuffie eagerly replied, then stepped away from Reno and grabbed his hand, practically dragging him to the childrens’ trailer before he knew what was going on.

“Why did you agree?” Reno asked his wife.

“They’re good kids, and I want you to get to know them.” Yuffie said, not looking at him. She hoped that they would grow on him, it would make it easier hopefully when she told him the truth.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hojo has an unpleasant surprise or two for Zack

Tifa opened her trailer door, besieged by conflicting emotions when she saw Tseng standing there. She let him come inside, and quietly closed the door behind him, then led him to the bed. It had been a month since their first night together, and Tseng had come to her trailer two days later to talk things out, but once they were alone in her trailer, they had ended up having sex again. And that became their routine, he would come to her trailer when she wasn’t filming, and they didn’t have to worry about being discovered, because no one would suspect anything to have her manager frequently visit her. And he ended up having a bit part in the movie, since the original actor had backed out, and he was always on set.

“I missed you.” Tseng said as he undressed her.

“You were only gone for three days.” Tifa reminded him as she unzipped his jeans.

“I still missed you.” Tseng kissed her as they fell naked onto her bed.

Tifa clung to him as he entered her…she didn’t like their secrecy, it made her feel guilty, but Tseng gave her something that she didn’t even know she had been missing. As she felt herself start to orgasm, Tseng covered her mouth with his. They had nearly gotten caught in her trailer the first time, when she cried out multiple times since her body had been aching for comfort from her discovery of Cloud with another woman.

“I missed you too.” Tifa admitted, as they lay in each other’s arms, enjoying the afterglow. She decided she needed to tell Cloud about Tseng, she couldn’t keep doing this to him anymore. If he forgave her, then there was still hope for them. If he gave up on her and sought out other women, then she needed to move on as well. She clung tighter to Tseng, needing his support at the thought of her confrontation with Cloud. That was it, she suddenly realized. That was what Tseng gave her, support…first with her career as her manager, now as her lover. “Thank you.” Tifa kissed him.

“For what?” Tseng asked.

“For everything.” Tifa smiled at him, and Tseng felt his heart leap a little. He had been attracted to her since the day she walked into his office, but had kept things professional until that night she was broken up over Cloud, and he had been unable to resist comforting her.

***

 

“Now I know this is going to be hard, and potentially dangerous, but we’ve taken every precaution to ensure your safety.” Zack started to explain the day’s shooting plans. “The monster isn’t really here, but you have to pretend to attack it. We’ll have our special effects team put Bahamut in the scene during post-production. Cloud, you’re last to attack because you’re going to kill…” Zack stopped mid-sentence. “Shalua, where is Cloud?”

“I’ll go check his trailer.” Shalua walked over to it and knocked. “Mr. Strife, are you in there?” Shalua thought she heard a groan, and opened the door and rushed inside, only to find him trying to sleep off a hangover. She made him a strong cup of instant coffee. “Here, drink this.” she told him.

“I need a doctor…I think I’m drying.” Cloud melodramatically exclaimed.

“I think you mean you’re dying, and you’re not, you’re just a drunk fool who’s putting us behind schedule.” Shalua snapped. She had been annoyed with him during the entire shooting. Shera did what she could for him in her role as gofer, but he had so many demands that Shalua ended up frequently called in to mediate disputes with him.

“You’re a big meanie.” Cloud pouted as he drunk the coffee, grimacing as he realized there was no sweetener. “I don’t like black coffee, it needs sugar.”

“That was Loz’s line, and you’re a grown man, get your own sugar and then join the rest of us in two minutes, unless you want one of the penalty clauses in your contract activated.“ With that, Shalua left, and Cloud winced as she slammed his door shut.

He reluctantly got out of bed and added sugar to his coffee, then gulped it down before heading out to join everyone. How come no one loved him? His starlets hadn’t been around lately, and Tifa seemed distracted. None of the other single women on set seemed interested in him, except for Aerith, and she hadn’t been around lately either. And he didn’t get Shalua’s rudeness, he was choice goods.

“Now that everyone’s here, let’s take it from the top. Now I know this is going to be hard, and potentially dangerous, but we’ve taken every precaution to ensure your safety.” Zack started to explain the day’s shooting plans. “The monster isn’t really here, but you have to pretend to attack it. We’ll have our special effects team put Bahamut in the scene during post-production. Cloud, you’re the last to attack because you’re going to kill the monster. Reeve, Cait Sith and Red XIII are not to attack together. Each character is to attack separately. Now our stunt coordinators will get you all rigged up in a safety harness. We have paramedics on set today, but please try and avoid needing them.”

Everything went fine, at least until Barret had to jump off the beam because the monster was going to be attacking, and somehow his safety harness failed. Luckily he was only five feet off the ground, but he got tangled up in the safety line.

“Cut!” Zack yelled as the medical team rushed over to make sure Barret was alright.

Everyone stayed where they were until the paramedics said all he had was a sprained wrist due to the machine gun arm prop he was wearing when he landed.

“Alright, let’s take an early lunch and finish this afterwards. Good job so far, everybody.” Zack announced before heading back to his trailer. He was surprised to see Hojo there, he hadn’t seen the man since the audition. “What can I do for you?” he asked the producer.

“You’ve got two months left of filming.” Hojo told him.

“What?” Zack exclaimed. “It’s sheer luck we’ve gotten as much filmed so far as we have…these are amateurs I’m dealing with!”

“Two months only, and if the script isn’t filmed completely by then, I have other sources to fill in the gaps.” Hojo said.

“What do you mean?” Zack asked.

“I told you that great movies require experimentation. Your amateurs may not be actor material, but their personal lives have all the drama I need!” Hojo exclaimed before leaving.

A few moments later, the door opened again, and Zack was surprised to see Shalua there.

“Is everything okay? I waited until Your Highness was long gone.” Shalua came in and closed the door behind her.

“I’ve got two months left to finish filming, and we’ve got fifty pages of script left to get through. I’m lucky to get half a page of script filmed every day!” Zack ranted, pacing back and forth, then finally sat down on the couch.

“You’ll do just fine, you always do.” Shalua reassured him, sitting down next to him.

“How?” he demanded to know, turning his head to look at her.

“First off, you need to relax.” Shalua suddenly kissed him, and Zack froze in shock.

“What are you doing?” he asked her.

“I’m supposed to assist you, and you’re too tense to do your job properly. So I’ll help you however I can.” Shalua smiled at him before resuming their kiss. Zack realized she was right, he did need to relax.

“Do you want the couch or bed?” he asked her as they started getting undressed.

“The bed…the couch fabric isn’t friendly to bare skin.” Shalua said in a tone that suggested prior unpleasant experience.

“The bed it is.” Zack gestured for her to go first. Watching her walk away from him, he was surprised at how attractive she was underneath those dowdy business suits she always wore.

Shalua was glad Zack accepted her offer. He was the only man on set that interested her, and she respected his skill as a director. Plus he looked good. She closed her eyes as she felt his lips on her breast, then suddenly winced in pain.

“What’s wrong?” Zack asked, stopping when he felt her tense up. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, it’s not you, it’s my earpiece. I forgot to take it out and it just made a horrible noise.” Shalua took it out of her ear and put it next to his alarm clock, and then they both heard the awful feedback noise.

“What the…” Zack moved his alarm clock, and something fell off it. He picked it up to see what it was. “Son of a bitch!”

“What is that?” she asked.

“It’s a wireless camera. That must be what Hojo meant, the bastard, he must have put them in everyone’s trailer.” Zack took his alarm clock and smashed the camera. “Well, two can play that game. Now where were we?” he asked, turning his attention back to Shalua.

 

***

“How much longer is Kadaj gonna be so damned full of himself?” Loz asked.

“Don’t worry, if all else fails, I’ll fly his mother in and he’ll just want to crawl under a rock because she still thinks he’s her little baby.” Sephiroth told him.

“Could you do it anyway just to shut him up?” Yazoo requested.

 

***

A knock on his trailer door surprised him. Cloud had felt really neglected and lonely lately. He excitedly opened the door to be greeted by an unfamiliar woman.

“Hey! I’m Lisa Fields…you don’t know me, I’m the tutor for the kids on-set. I’m a big fan of yours, I’ve seen every one of your movies three times. If you need anything, let me know. Here’s my number.” She blurted out as she grabbed his hand and quickly wrote on it with a marker, then just as quickly disappeared.

Cloud stared after her, unsure of what just happened, the number on his hand the only evidence she was even there. She was way too hyper…he wasn’t interested in whirlwinds, but he still wrote her number down in his little black book to be on the safe side.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter, setting things up for That's A Wrap, the next story in this trilogy.

Rufus softly knocked on the kids’ trailer door after a nighttime stroll around the set. Scarlet answered the door, smiling when she saw him. She came outside, quietly closing the door so the children wouldn‘t wake up. She was worried that she might be making a fool of herself with a younger man, but she had gotten so used to her role as a spinster, and to have a handsome young man pay attention to her was more than she could resist. Especially when the more she learned about him, the more she liked him. His desire to go back to school and improve his life was something she wholeheartedly approved of. 

“Lunch again tomorrow?” Rufus asked, then realized she wasn’t looking at him. “What is it?” He followed her gaze and saw two policeman walking towards them, one in uniform, one plain-clothed. Neither of them looked happy. “Can I help you gentleman?”

“Yes, if you can tell me where I might find…” The plain-clothed officer looked at his notebook. “Marlene and Denzel Madison.”

Scarlet paled and Rufus grabbed hold of her when she started to feel her legs wobble. “I’m…I’m their nanny. May I ask what you want with them?” Scarlet didn’t even recognize her own voice as she got the words out.

 

***

 

Reno and Yuffie walked hand in hand back to their trailer. She was almost sorry there were only two weeks left of filming, almost because Zack had started riding them hard, explaining they were on a tight schedule and couldn‘t waste anymore time. Being next door to Rude and Elena had been extremely beneficial for their marriage. Yuffie didn’t know if it was because of some innate competitiveness Reno possessed that she was unaware of, or that he realized he had been neglecting her, but he had become as affectionate to her as Rude was to Elena. Well, maybe not quite to that level…the trailers were stable enough to not end up a’rockin, but Elena was quite loud, so Yuffie knew when she was trying to get pregnant. If she didn’t succeed with all those attempts, Yuffie’s faith in probability would be shattered.

“Look at those stars.” Yuffie said, looking up at the night sky.

“I’d rather look at my own star.” Reno said, pulling her to him.

“Well, when you put it that way…” Yuffie kissed him, stopping when she heard a noise. “What is that?”

“I’m not sure.” Reno replied, and they both looked around, then spotted someone running towards them.

“Yuffie! Yuffie!” Scarlet yelled.

“Calm down, what’s wrong?” Yuffie asked when Scarlet just about ran into them. Then she felt a chill. “It’s…it’s not the children is it? Are they hurt?”

“Not physically…their parents died in an automobile accident on their way home from a dinner date this evening, and Social Services is taking them away.” Scarlet explained as she tried to catch her breath.

Reno barely caught Yuffie in time as she fainted. He took her in his arms and brought her into their trailer as Rude and Elena came out of their trailer, wondering what the commotion was.

“Is Yuffie okay? What’s going on?” Elena rushed over to Scarlet, who tried to calm down again enough to explain, now worried about Yuffie as well as the children.

Reno laid Yuffie carefully down on the couch, since it was closest to the door. He went to get her a glass of water, and when he came back, he heard her muttering something. When he was close enough to hear what she was saying in her sleep, he dropped the glass. “Don’t let them take my children again?” he repeated in shock.

 

***

 

“You and Tseng? How could you?” Cloud yelled at Tifa. This was not what he had been expecting when she asked him to come to her trailer, he thought she had finally come to her senses and was going to take him back.

“How could you cheat on me?” Tifa yelled back, the tears streaming down her face. The confrontation with the man who had been part of her life since childhood was harder than she thought. It felt like she was killing part of herself, but she couldn‘t keep living like this. “How many other women besides me have there been?”

“That was your fault, I just needed to make sure you cared.” Cloud sullenly replied, realizing something was wrong here, but now he wasn‘t sure which of them it was.

“I do care for you, but I’m not in love with you. We’ve been trying for years to make it work, and all we’ve done is make each other miserable.”

Cloud refused to say anything else, unable to think of a reply that made sense. And he didn’t want to let go of Tifa, but he didn’t want her to be miserable either. So he just left her trailer, slamming the door behind him. Tifa threw herself down on the couch and cried herself to sleep, hoping it would hurt less in the morning. Cloud went back to his trailer, and once there, flopped down on his couch and stared at the phone, wondering if he should call Lisa or not. He had seen her around more since the day she introduced herself, and she was cute…

 

***

 

Yuffie woke up in the middle of the night, surprised to find herself on the couch in their trailer, instead of in bed. Getting up, she saw that Reno was asleep in the bed, so she went and joined him.

“How come I was on the couch?” Yuffie asked him.

“You fainted when Scarlet told you those children were orphaned now.” Reno said, not sure if he wanted the answer to his coming question. “Why did you plead for your children not to be taken away from you in your sleep?”

Yuffie froze…she had been planning to gently tell Reno the truth after filming was over, when she figured out how to do that. But now… ”I’ll tell you if you answer two questions of mine.” Yuffie replied.

“What are your two questions?”

“First, what do you think of Denzel and Marlene? And secondly, will you make love to me before I answer you?”

“They’re good kids.” Reno said as he caressed his wife. He was surprised how eagerly Yuffie responded to him, it made him nervous about what her explanation would be.

Yuffie put her head on her husband’s chest in the afterglow, so she could hear his heartbeat during her confession. “Denzel and Marlene, they’re…they’re my children.”

“What?!” Reno exclaimed.

“I married my childhood sweetheart when I was 16 because I got pregnant with Denzel. But he ended up being a bum who barely managed to hold down a job. I wanted more out of life, and finished high school and applied to college when I found out I was pregnant with Marlene. Then my husband tried to take off with the money I had saved up, before it all got spent on the children and school. But when he got in the car after draining the account, he didn‘t pay attention to traffic when he pulled out onto the street, and a semi hit him head-on, killing him instantly. And the money was never found. So without money or a father to watch them while I was in school, I found a private adoption firm. I waited until Marlene was born so the children would stay together, and used the money from that to help with getting my medical degree. I recognized the children the day of the audition, because they took after their father in looks.” Yuffie took a deep breath, and her eyes watered as she remembered the pain of the day the adoption lawyer came and took her children to their new home.

Reno was stunned…he had never guessed that Yuffie was married before him, or that she had children. She had gotten weird whenever the subject of having a family came up, but it made sense now…still though, it was a lot for him to process. He got out of bed and got dressed. 

“Where are you going?” Yuffie asked fearfully.

“I’m going for a walk, I’ll be back soon.” Reno said before leaving.

 

***

 

Aerith refilled Vincent’s champagne glass. He had been too busy filming for their planned picnic lunch, so she had insisted he make it up to her with a nighttime picnic in bed. She surprised herself with her interest in him. It had started out half as a challenge, half because he seemed sad and lonely and she couldn’t stand seeing someone unhappy. But he was the first man she could remember who actually looked at her face when he talked to her, and didn’t treat her like a piece of meat to chew up and spit out. He made her feel special…especially the first time she had seduced him. It had become painfully obvious that it had been such a long time since he had been with a woman, he had been so nervous and awkward, and so grateful to her afterwards, it had been more memorable than all the other flings and one-night stands she had had in the last five years, Rufus and Cloud included.

“Do you want me to refill your glass too?” Vincent asked her.

The sound of his voice interrupting her thoughts made her giggle for some reason. “I think I’ve had enough.” Aerith managed to get out, letting Vincent take the champagne bottle from her and put it on the shelf so it wouldn’t get spilled.

“Maybe some food?” Vincent offered her the appetizer tray, but Aerith shook her head.

“I think…I think it’s not food I want.” Aerith cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. Vincent hurriedly put the tray on the shelf as well, and took Aerith in his arms. He was unable to resist her, feeling beyond lucky with this beautiful young woman’s continued interest in him.

“Marry me.” Aerith heard herself say as Vincent kissed her neck.

“What?” Vincent froze, thinking he heard her wrong.

“Marry me.” Aerith repeated. “Filming is over in two weeks, and I want to keep you nearby.”

“I…I’m…but…” Vincent started stuttering, not sure what he should say now.

“Just think about making an honest woman out of me.” Aerith said, climbing on top of him.


End file.
